THE MAGICIAN

"1"

THE MAGICIAN--RULED BY MERCURY

KEYWORDS: Work, communications, medicine.

Spiritual Meaning: You are the master of your own universe and you bring into your universe that which your subconscious has shown you is needed.

The meaning of The Magician comes fron the Hermetic axiom, "As Above, So Below". This is portrayed by his action of pointing to the heavens with one hand and the earth with the other. He represents the alchemist. The true meaning of alchemy is not, as is commonly believed, to trun base metals into gold, but to turn the base personality into the golden, or Christ-like personification.

The Magician is pointing upwards, towards the heavens. This means that he takes his thoughts from the cosmic consciousness and brings them into his mind. He then weeds out what is not necessary, and manifests into his world that which he desires. To achieve his goals, The Magician uses the tools which he has placed on the altar before him. Because he utilizes the tools to which he has access to manipulate and to manifest into his world that which he desires, one of the meanings of this card is "work" and, also, "creative work".

The Number One, the number of The Magician, represents the ego, or the individual. The Magician works on his own, he stands alone in all that he does, self-confident that he will succeed in his endeavors.

He is ruled by the planet Mercury, the planet which rules the mind and communications. In this case the communication is The Magicians own thought process, with the communication going from the subconscious mind to the conscious, thinking mind.

Above the head of The Magician is the sign of infinity (resembling the figure 8 lying on its side). Whenever you see this sign in any of the Tarot Cards, it indicates "medicine". This can be a doctor, nurse, or someone else connected with the medical field.

(Updated 2006, All rights reserved.)

THE FOOL

"0"

THE FOOL--RULED BY URANUS

KEYWORDS: Choice, travel, independence, freedom

Spirital meaning: Your journey through life can begin and end at any point, and begin again.

Zero, the number of the Fool, has no ending and no beginning. It is said The Fool can be placed in any position in the deck and still be in the correct position, for, as it has no ending and no beginning, the zero encompasses all numbers.

This card represents man's path as he starts through life, which is why it can be placed anywhere. Throughout each lifetime you may complete the path which you are on and start over again many times. For this reason, some decks place The Fool as the last card, some as the first card. By the same reasoning, you can place this card in the middle of the deck, for there are times in our lives when we will end our travel on one path and take another direction in life.

Uranus, the planet which rules The Fool, is the planet of changes. It is an unstable planet and where you find Uranus you will find change, usually sudden and disruptive. It well represents the path of man, who moves through life in an erratic manner, with many stops, starts and abrupt changes.

As you look at the card you see a young man strolling toward the precipice, blissfully unaware of his impending danger. The interpretation here is that there is a choice to be made. You can either look where you are going, or you can fall down from the mountain top. It is your choice. However, bear in mind that even if you were to fall down the mountain, it would not necessarily be "bad", or the end. It would only mean that you would be starting on you path again, and in many cases, this new start could be for the better.

The Fool also represents the traveller as he begins his journey on his path. He is the vagabond of olden days, who came and went as he wished. In this aspect the card can be interpreted as freedom, or it could be interpreted as flight.

(updated 2006, All rights reserved.)